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ABILITY  AND  RESPONSIBILITY : 

AN  APPEAL 

IN  BEHALF  OF  MISSIONS. 


REV.  W.  S.  EDWARDS,  D.D., 

Of  the  Baltimore  A  nnual  Conference. 


NEW  YORK: 

NELSON  &  PHILLIPS. 

CINCINNATI  : 
HITCHCOCK  &  WALDEN. 

1878. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/abilityresponsibOOedwa 


APPEAL  IN  BEHALF  OF  MISSIONS. 


* 

“  And  unto  one  he  gave  five  talents,  to  another  two,  and 
to  another  one ;  to  every  man  according  to  his  several 
ability.” — Matt,  xxv,  15. 

The  distribution  of  talents  in  the  parable 
is  unequal,  because  the  ability  of  the  servants 
receiving  them  is  unequal.  A  distribution  on 
any  other  principle  than  the  one  adopted — “to 
every  man  according  to  his  several  ability  ” — 
would  have  been  unjust  alike  to  the  servants 
and  to  their  Lord.  As  ability  determined  the 
original  endowment  of  each  one,  making  the 
reason  for  the  Lord’s  discrimination  in  giving 
“  unto  one  five  talents,  to  another  two,  and  to 
another  one,”  so  it  measured  responsibility  for 
the  use  of  the  talents  severally  conferred.  As 
one  received  more  than  another  because  of 
larger  receptive  capacity,  so  more  was  ex¬ 
pected  of  one  than  another  because  of  greater 
executive  ability.  There  was  no  unfair  ad¬ 
vantage  taken  of,  or  degradation  put  upon,  him 
who  received  one  talent.  The  smallness  of  the 
assignment  answered  to  the  smallness  of  the 


4  Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions. 

man.  With  two  talents  he  would  have  been 
overstocked ;  with  one  he  was  sufficiently  but 
not  excessively  furnished.  His  accountability, 
like  that  of  the  other  servants  who  respectively 
had  two  and  five  talents,  was  proportioned  to 
his  power  to  use  and  produce.  If  he  had  less, 
he  was  call’ed  to  do  less.  Yet  faithfulness  in 
doing  what  he  could  was  claimed,  and  would 
not  lose  its  reward. 

This  leading  truth  of  the  parable,  that  ability 
makes  and  measures  responsibility,  that  re¬ 
sources  and  results  are  so  related  that  one  must 
balance  the  other,  has  almost  endless  appli¬ 
cations.  Its  bearings  touch  every  department 
of  life,  and  every  stage  and  phase  of  progress. 
It  is  elucidative  of  both  the  achievements  and 
the  further  possibilities  of  civilization.  As  a 
great  law,  communities  no  less  than  individuals 
are  amenable  to  it.  Nations  gain  or  lose,  go 
backward  or  forward,  live  or  die,  as  they  re¬ 
gard  or  disregard  it.  W e  deliberate  and  decide 
upon  duty  and  desert,  we  adjust  obligation 
and  define  fidelity,  according  to  this  principle, 
which  the  parable  of  the  talents  so  clearly  and 
cogently  presents. 

That  the  Churches  of  Christendom — I  refer 
to  the  denominational  organizations  whoso 
sum  is  the  visible  Church  of  Christ,  rather  than 


Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions.  5 

to  local  congregations  of  Christian  believers — 
that  the  Churches  of  Christendom  come  under 
this  law  none  can  doubt.  There  is  no  for¬ 
bidden  straining  of  the  parable  when  the  serv¬ 
ants,  into  whose  hands  the  Lord  delivered 
his  goods  for  careful  custody  and  profitable 
use,  are  made  typical  of  them ;  and  the  law  of 
responsibility,  which  the  parable  discloses,  fits 
in  with  their  conditions  and  peculiar  functions 
so  perfectly  as  to  be  unmistakably  a  law  for 
them.  Their  loyalty  to  the  great  commission, 
under  which  they  exist  and  act,  depends  upon 
a  conscientious  and  constant  reference  to  it. 
Their  relation  to  the  common  work  to  which 
they  are  called  and  consecrated  will  be  ap¬ 
preciated  only  as  they  appreciate  it.  On  earth 
and  in  heaven  it  is  the  rule  by  which  service 
is  apportioned,  and  the  criterion  by  which 
service  rendered  is  valued. 

Christianity,  assuming  for  itself  the  highest 
rank  as  a  religion  for  the  world,  seeks  universal 
propagation.  Refusing  all  alliances  or  compro¬ 
mises  with  other  religions,  it  proposes  to  dis¬ 
place  them.  It  is  militant  until  all  opposition 
is  swept  away.  Max  Muller,  classifying  the 
religions  of  the  world  as  non-missionary  and 
missionary,  rightly  puts  Christianity  in  the 
foreground  as  theoretically  and  practically  the 


6  Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions. 

most  missionary  of  all  religions,  remarking : 
“  Its  very  soul  is  missionary,  progressive,  world¬ 
embracing  ;  it  would  cease  to  exist  if  it  ceased 
to  be  missionary — if  it  disregarded  the  parting 
words  of  its  Founder,  c  Go  ye  therefore,  and 
teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name 
of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost :  .  .  .  .  and,  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway, 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  world.’  ”  It  cannot 
stop  short  of  the  conquest  of  the  world  for 
Christ  without  self-immolation.  By  its  con¬ 
stitution,  all  its  methods,  labors,  and  successes 
look  to  this. 

Our  Churches  visibly  represent  Christianity 
in  its  aim  and  purpose  to  push  itself  onward 
until  opposition  either  disappears  or  is  reduced 
to  impotency.  They  are  organisms  in  which 
the  spirit  of  Christianity  resides,  vitalized  by 
the  unceasing,  ever-expanding  activity  of  that 
spirit  into  aggresive  agencies  for  making  it  de 
facto ,  as  it  claims  to  be  dejure ,  the  universal 
religion.  The  grand  office  of  the  Church  is  to 
witness  for  the  saving  truth  of  Jesus  until  that 
truth  is  known  by  every  human  being.  It  is 
well  said,  “  The  Church  is  not  a  close  corpora¬ 
tion,  as  the  ancient  Pharisees  supposed,  its 
business  in  this  world  being  solely  to  carry  out 
the  great  commission.  And  no  purity  of  ortho- 


Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions.  7 

doxy  or  perfection  of  organization  can  make 
that  a  Church  of  Christ  which  refuses  obedience. 
There  may  be  every  thing  else  but  this — creeds, 
rituals,  traditions,  machinery,  wealth,  learning, 
numbers,  architecture,  music,  millinery,  and 
all  manner  of  human  upholstery,  as  substitutes 
for  a  Church,  but  to  take  no  part  in  the  evangel¬ 
ization  of  the  heathen  is  to  be  out  of  sympathy 
with  Christ,  and  out  of  harmony  with  his 
plans.”  On  New  Testament  principles  the  re¬ 
jection  of  every  plea  for  recognition  and  fellow¬ 
ship  as  a  true  Church  of  Christ  is  required, 
whenever  this  paramount  function  is  denied 
and  discarded. 

After  all,  the  test  of  a  true  Church  is  more  a 
practical  than  a  dogmatic  or  historical  one ;  it 
is  an  earnest  devotion  to  the  world’s  salvation. 
Churches  can  show  no  better  reason  for  their 
right  to  be,  no  more  unanswerable  argument 
in  vindicating  their  legitimacy  of  descent  and 
succession  from  the  apostles  and  primitive 
Church. 

All  Churches,  acting  under  the  charter  of 
Christianity,  professing  to  hold  their  creden¬ 
tials  from  the  Lord  Jesus,  are  thus  presumed 
to  be  missionary  Churches,  because  Chris¬ 
tianity  itself  is  essentially  missionary.  The 
governing  idea  with  them  must  be  bringing 


8  Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions. 

the  world  to  Jesus,  because  it  is  the  central 
idea  of  the  Gospel,  God’s  message  of  reconcilia¬ 
tion  to  guilty,  dying  men.  Their  validity  and 
authority  expire  when  this  idea  does  not  domi¬ 
nate  in  creed  and  practice.  So  it  follows  that 
all  the  work  of  the  Churches  not  only  is  to  be, 
but,  unless  it  be  palpably  and  perniciously  un¬ 
christian  or  antichristian  in  form  and  tend¬ 
ency,  is  missionary  work.  In  the  nature  of 
the  case  it  must  be  a  contribution  to  the  en¬ 
largement  of  Christianity,  and  by  so  much 
leave  less  to  be  done  in  securing  for  Christianity 
universal  sway. 

Heathenism  has  acquired  a  technical  mean¬ 
ing,  a  single  reference,  which  is  misleading  in 
respect  to  the  work  of  the  Churches  and  the 
development  of  Christianity.  Really,  the  fact 
it  embodies  and  expresses  is  unaffected  by 
place  or  circumstances  of  nativity,  and  the 
child  born  in  the  United  States  or  England  is 
born  as  much  a  heathen  as  the  one  born  in 
the  wilds  of  Africa  or  Asia.  If  there  be  any 
difference  in  the  external  appliances  inceptive- 
ly  used  to  Christianize,  there  is  no  difference 
in  the  influences  which  internally  and  concur¬ 
rently  operate,  and  without  which  there  can  be 
no  true  Christianization.  Heathenism  is  only 
nature,  and  if  our  familiar  phrase — from  nature 


Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions.  9 

to  grace — rightly  expresses  evangelical  con¬ 
version,  then  every  conversion  is  a  conversion 
from  heathenism,  is  making  a  Christian  out  of 
a  heathen.  All  the  agencies  employed  by  the 
Churches  look  ultimately  to  the  conversion  of 
men,  and,  by  the  multiplication  of  conversions, 
to  the  undisputed  establishment  of  Christ’s 
kingdom.  Hence  all  these  agencies  are  strictly 
missionary  agencies;  the  work  for  which  they 
are  engaged  is  missionary  work. 

I  lay  stress  upon  this  position,  because  its 
contradiction,  as  I  think,  not  only  involves  an 
uncalled-for  disparagement  of  the  Churches  in 
what  they  are  doing  here  at  home,  but  must  be 
harmful  in  retarding  the  occupation  of  the 
fields  abroad,  “  already  white  unto  the  har¬ 
vest.”  The  distinction  between  missionary 
work  and  the  ordinary  work  done  by  Chris¬ 
tian  agencies  in  the  so-called  Christian  lands, 
between  the  Church  in  its  wholeness  as  a  mis¬ 
sionary  society,  and  a  corporation  within  it 
known  as  the  missionary  society,  may  be  ad¬ 
missible — is,  perhaps,  unavoidable.  As  far  as 
our  Church  missionary  societies  are  concerned, 

v  7 

I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  objecting  to 
the  arrangement  which  creates  them,  or  as  find¬ 
ing  fault  with  their  management.  The  agents 
of  the  Churches,  fairly  representing,  as  they  are 


10  Appeai  in  Behalf  of  Missions. 

supposed  to  do,  their  sense  of  obligation  and 
faith  and  zeal  and  liberality,  they  are  construct¬ 
ively  the  Churches  themselves.  They  have  an 
important  office  besides  the  mere  supervisory 
and  administrative  one  which  they  exercise,  that 
of  enlightening  and  quickening  the  Churches 
on  the  question  of  duty  in  relation  to  the  dif¬ 
fusion  of  the  Gospel.  I  do  not  see  how  they 
could  be  dispensed  with.  But  the  distinction 
referred  to,  especially  that  between  work  at 
home  and  work  abroad,  is  liable  to  abuse,  and 
pains  ought  not  to  be  spared  in  preventing  the 
abuse.  Misconceptions  may  grow  out  of  it, 
and  doubtless  do,  which  are  prejudicial  to  the 
Gospel.  An  example  is  found  in  the  current 
saying,  We  must  take  care  of  home,  as  if  what 
is  geographically  remote  is  spiritually  uncon¬ 
nected  with  home,  and  may  not  ask  attention 
until  every  Church  debt  is  settled,  and  every 
sinner  converted  at  home.  The  oneness  of  all 
Christian  work,  if  not  in  form,  yet  in  design — 
if  not  in  outward  appearance,  yet  in  internal 
reality,  in  essence— is  not  disputable ;  it  is  an 
axiom  in  Christian  science.  The  more  this  is 
insisted  upon  and  believed,  the  nearer  will  the 
missionary  cause,  as  an  integral  part  of  the 
work  to  which  the  Churches  are  pledged,  and 
for  which  they  are  constituted — yea,  as  that 


Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions.  11 

work  itself1 — be  brought  to  the  hearts  of  Chris¬ 
tians,  the  more  strongly  will  it  take  hold  of 
their  consciences,  the  more  liberally  will  it  be 
provided  for,  and  the  more  enthusiastically 
prosecuted,  ’till 

“  Man,  rising  from  the  ruins  of  liis  fall, 

Is  one  with  God,  and  God  is  all  in  all.” 

With  the  oneness  of  Christian  work  realized, 
the  nearer  to  each  other,  too,  will  the  Churches 
come,  and  be  helpful  to  each  other  in  promot¬ 
ing  the  cause  which  belongs  to  all,  and  whose 
triumph  will  be  the  triumph  of  all. 

It  may  not  be  presumptuous  in  me  to  suggest 
that,  possibly,  one  reason,  if  not  a  principal 
reason,  of  the  failure  of  Christians  generally  to 
appreciate  the  cause  of  missions,  and  give  them¬ 
selves  and  their  means  to  it  in  the  measure  its 
merits  deserve  and  demand,  is  a  failure  to  make 
them  see  and  feel  that  it  is  the  cause  of  Chris¬ 
tianity  itself ;  that  it  is  not  a  modern  and  pos¬ 
sibly  a  superfluous  addendum  to  the  Gospel, 
but  an  original  and  indestructible  part  of  it ; 
that  the  Gospel  at  home  and  the  Gospel  abroad 
are  the  same,  and  that  one  cannot  be  slighted 
or  sacrificed  without  the  other  suffering  and 
going  down  with  it;  that  the  Church  is  not 
allowed  to  have  a  policy  which  contemplates 


12  Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions. 


any  thing  less  than  taking  the  world  for 
Jesus  ;  that  the  question  submitted  to  us  as 
Christians,  as  Bishop  Pierce  of  our  Southern 
Methodism  finely  puts  it,  “is  not  simply 
whether  the  heathen,”  in  the  outlying  regions, 
“  can  be  saved  without  the  Gospel,  but  whether 
we  can  be  saved  if  we  do  not  give  it  to  them 
that  every  minister  of  Jesus,  on  whatever  conti¬ 
nent  he  stands,  and  in  whatever  language  he 
publishes  the  good  news,  is  a  New  Testament 
missionary,  his  commission  assigning  him  the 
world  as  his  parish ;  that  every  Church  mem¬ 
ber  must  make  the  world’s  conversion  his  affair; 
that  business,  profits,  possessions,  are  to  be 
labeled,  “  For  Jesus,”  and  so  he  is  to  show  that 
he  is  fired  with  the  missionary  spirit ;  that  all 
the  prayers  and  sermons  and  services  of  the 
Church  are  in  the  interest  of  a  Gospel  that  is 
intrinsically  and  grandly  missionary  ;  that  our 
Sunday-schools  are  manned  and  managed  that 
the  world  may  be  sooner  told  “the  old,  old 
story  of  Jesus  and  his  love;”  that  every  church 
or  chapel  built  heralds  a  new  victory  for  our 
Lord  and  the  speedier  coming  of  his  glory ;  that 
every  conversion  is  a  new  prophecy  of  the  re¬ 
turn  of  our  revolts"  planet  to  Him  whose  right 
it  is  to  reign  ;  that  when  the  Churches  erect  and 
endow  their  schools  and  colleges,  they  are  on 


Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions.  13 

the  line  of  missionary  activity  and  conquest ; 
that  the  men  who  are  sending  into  society  cult¬ 
ured  Christian  mind,  our  educators,  are  not 
only  demonstrating  the  friendliness  of  the 
Churches  to  learning,  the  harmony  of  religion 
and  science,  the  congruity  between  the  richest 
piety  and  the  ripest  scholarship,  but  are  aug¬ 
menting  the  resources  of  every  missionary  so¬ 
ciety  in  Christendom  ;  that  all  the  benevolent 
institutions  of  the  Churches,  their  asylums  for 
the  aged,  the  orphan,  the  poor,  and  the  sick, 
are  monumental  witnesses  for  the  sympathy  of 
Christianity  with  all  human  woe,  and  point 
onward  to,  and  prepare  for,  the  blessed  con¬ 
summation  to  which  it  is  hastening. 

Such  a  conception  of  Christianity  and  of  the 
work  confided  to  the  Churches,  universally 
prevalent,  inwrought  into  the  Christian  mind 
and  conscience  as  their  deepest  and  most  sacred 
conviction,  would,  I  am  persuaded,  strengthen 
us  in  all  our  positions  at  home  and  abroad,  and 
we  would  be  always  ready  to  take  new  posi¬ 
tions.  It  would  keep  us  steadily  on  the  ad¬ 
vance,  and  with  a  rapidity  of  movement  hither¬ 
to  unknown.  We  need  have  no  fear  that  the 
Churches  would  overlook  the  fields  distant  and 
destitute  on  the  plea  that  they  are  already 
doing  missionary  work  and  enough  of  it.  They 


14  Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions. 

too  much  overlook  these  fields  now ,  and  on  this 
very  plea.  I  would  have  them  so  indoctri¬ 
nated  and  quickened  as  to  feel  that  it  is  desti¬ 
tution,  and  not  distance,  they  are  to  consider, 
and  that  the  latter  in  itself  can  never  be  a 
reason  for  indifference.  The  missionary  idea 
which  I  have  advocated  is  not  limited  to  home. 
It  disowns  and  denounces  as  the  worst  kind  of 
imposture  the  charity  which  begins  at  home, 
and  stays  there.  It  brings  all  fields  to  the 
Churches  as  home,  and  demands  provision  for 
them.  It  knows,  indeed,  but  one  field,  and  that 
is  the  world.  It  makes  opportunity  to  do 
good  with  hands  or  lips  or  money  a  Divine 
summons  to  do  it,  and  invests  duty  with  the 
gratefulness  and  joy  of  privilege.  It  calls  the 
Church  to  do  all  its  work  under  the  missionary 
impulse.  It  connects  every  plan,  every  move¬ 
ment,  every  dollar  raised  and  spent,  every 
thought,  with  the  salvation  of  the  race.  It 
goes  beyond  our  Discipline  in  its  appointment 
of  a  monthly  prayer- meeting  and  an  annual 
sermon  in  each  congregation  for  the  cause  of 
missions,  appropriating  every  prayer-meeting 
and  every  prayer  and  every  sermon  to  that 
cause. 

When  the  mind  and  the  heart  of  the  Churches 
are  thus  impressed  with  the  missionary  charac- 


Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions.  15 

ter  of  all  their  work,  when  the  world’s  evangel¬ 
ization  is  accepted  as  the  paramount  question, 
and  every  other  question  is  considered  in  the 
light  of  this  overshadowing  one,  and  decided 
so  as  to  subserve  it,  we  will  be  done  with  debts 
and  short  supplies  in  our  missionary  treasuries. 
The  Christian  pulpit  and  press,  and  those  who 
more  immediately  superintend  our  missionary 
operations,  must  do  the  chief  part  in  removing 
error  and  enforcing  truth  as  to  the  oneness  of 
our  Christian  work,  the  impossibility  oft  reject¬ 
ing  or  neglecting  the  cause  of  missions  without 
rejecting  and  dishonoring  Christianity. 

Denominationalism  has  been  urged  as  un¬ 
friendly  to  the  success  of  missionary  enterprise. 
Christianity  is  enfeebled,  it  is  alleged,  by  the 
multiplicity  of  its  representatives,  and  without 
a  diminution  of  these,  and  a  better  understand¬ 
ing  between  them,  the  world’s  conversion  must 
be  placed  among  things  improbable,  if  not  im¬ 
possible.  “A  house  divided  against  itself  can¬ 
not  stand.”  It  is  concluded  that  Christianity, 
as  a  universal  religion,  must  prove  a  failure. 

That  denominationalism  has  often  hindered 
the  progress  of  the  Gospel  no  one  can  deny. 
That  it  must  impair  and  impede  it  would  be  a 
bold,  if  not  reckless,  assertion.  That  the  as¬ 
sertion  can  be  made  good,  I  do  not  believe. 


16  Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions. 

The  separation  of  Christians  into  various 
bodies  not  only  need  not  be  detrimental  to 
Christianity,  but  may  be  and  ought  to  be 
directly  favorable  to  its  purity  and  completesl 
efficiency.  Its  healthiest  development  may  be 
promoted  by  just  such  a  condition. 

The  unity  which  the  Gospel  calls  for  among 
Christians  is  not  an  outward  one.  It  is  some¬ 
times  mistakenly  confounded  with  union.  It 
is  a  unity  of  and  in  the  spirit.  It  has  its  basis 
in  a  personal  relation  to  Jesus  as  Saviour  and 
Lord,  and  its  manifestation  in  devotion  to  a 
common  work. 

Who  can  say  that  many  Churches  agreed 
upon  the  essentials  of  revealed  truth,  compre¬ 
hending  the  world-wide  philanthropy  of  the 
Gospel  and  doing  their  part  in  giving  it  to  the 
world,  recognizing  and  co-operating  with  one 
another  as  companions  in  the  kingdom  and 
patience  of  Jesus  Christ,  are  not  the  very  ex¬ 
pression  of  the  mind  of  the  Lord  ?  Who  can 
say  that  this  manifoldness  is  not  of  the  Spirit’s 
inspiration  ?  that  the  division  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian  body  into  our  evangelical  denominations 
is  not  the  divine  plan  for  preserving  the  truth 
incorrupt,  and  evoking  on  the  largest  scale  the 
activities  of  redeemed  and  sanctified  humanity  ? 

Difference  in  name  does  not  necessarilv  im- 


Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions.  17 

ply  difference  in  essential  faith  or  the  object 
sought.  Division  is  not  necessarily  destruct¬ 
ive  of  substantial  unity,  or  disadv  antageous  to 
Christianity.  Variety  in  nature  is  not  cou- 
flictive  with  the  harmony  of  nature. 

“Division,”  remarks  Canon  Westcott,  “(if 
we  regard  the  imperfection  of  our  nature,)  ap¬ 
pears  to  be  the  preliminary  of  that  noblest 
catholicity,  which  will  issue  from  the  separate 
fulfillment  by  each  part  in  due  measure  of  its 
proper  function  toward  the  whole.”  The- 
same  writer  draws  a  forcible  illustration  from 
the  division  of  humanity  into  separate  and  con¬ 
flicting  nations,  as  not  only  u  not  destructive 
of  the  moral  unity  of  the  whole  body  of  man¬ 
kind,”  but  as  contributing  directly  to  the 
preservation  and  perfection  of  the  world’s 
civilization.  So  “  separate  organizations  appear 
to  be  as  necessary  for  the  complete  manifes¬ 
tation  of  the  many  sides  of  Christian  truth  in 
relation  to  man,  as  they  are  confessedly  for  the 
manifestation  of  national  life.”  There  is  di¬ 
vision  of  labor  in  the  dissemination  of  Chris¬ 
tianity.  Many  Churches,  cherishing  one  Lord, 
one  faith,  and  one  baptism,  are  better  than  one 
for  this  reason,  if  for  no  other — the  labor  can 
be  distributed  and  competitively  pursued  so  as, 

on  the  one  hand,  to  secure  the  greatest  ex- 
2 


18  Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions. 


pansion  of  resources,  and,  on  the  other,  the 
greatest  efficiency  in  usefully  applying  them. 

Possibly  there  are  more  Churches  than  we 
need.  Some  so  closely  resemble  as  to  be 
hardly  distinguishable.  Their  distinctions  do 
not  amount  to  real  differences.  The  common 
cause  would  probably  be  better  served  by  their 
consolidation. 

But,  I  confess,  I  am  not  so  much  concerned 
about  the  number  of  our  Churches,  as  I  am 
about  their  spirit  and  the  direction  they  give 
to  their  energies.  They  cannot  be  damagingly 
in  one  another’s  way  if  they  are  consecrated 
to  the  mission  of  carrying  the  Gospel  to  those 
who  are  without  it,  and  seek  their  growth 
from  the  vast  mass  of  unenlightened  and  un¬ 
saved  souls  among  the  nations.  And  this  is 
their  business.  Building  up  themselves  at  the 
expense  of  one  another,  one  making  itself 
strong  by  weakening  another,  more  elated  over 
a  transferred  membership  from  a  sister  Church 
than  over  a  conversion  from  the  world,  going 
into  fields  already  occupied  and  sufficiently 
provided  with  all  the  appliances  of  Christian 
instruction  and  cultivation,  signifies  no  real 
gain  for  Christianity.  The  missionary  effect¬ 
iveness  of  our  Churches  has  been  too  much 
abridged  by  this  kind  of  encroachment  and 


Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions.  19 

interference.  It  is  violative  of  all  professions  of 
confidence  and  fellowship ;  and  while  it  is  en¬ 
couraged,  the  embraces  and  gushing  speeches 
of  fraternal  delegates  are  little  else  than  splen 
did  exhibitions  of  sensation-making.  The 
Churches  were  never  meant  to  be  rivals  except 
in  provoking  one  another  to  faith  and  good 
works.  A  more  charitable  recognition  of  one 
another  as  custodians  and  propagandists  of  a 
common  Gospel  would  facilitate  the  success 
of  all. 

At  the  recent  Evangelical  Alliance  meeting 
in  New  York,  a  paper  was  read  on  “Mission¬ 
ary  Courtesy,”  in  relation  to  “  divisions  of  mis¬ 
sionary  fields  of'  labor.”  Giving  the  word 
missionary  its  broadest  application  to  all  the 
aggressive  work  of  the  Churches,  the  courtesy 
which  is  insisted  upon  for  the  proper  cultiva¬ 
tion  of  the  fields  among  the  non-Christian 
nations  is  demanded  in  all  the  fields  which  the 
Churches  occupy  or  enter.  I  do  not  argue  that 
the  several  denominations  should  never  appear 
together  in  the  same  community.  Many  com¬ 
munities,  by  reason  of  their  populousness,  call 
for  the  presence  and  tax  the  powers  of  many 
or  all  the  Churches.  I  am  only  arguing  that 
they  should  not  enter  and  persist  in  staying 
where  they  are  not  needed,  and  that  they 


20  Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions. 

should  never  operate  against  one  another. 
However  it  may  be  in  the  foreign  fields,  in  the 
home  fields  there  is  a  great  waste  of  brain 
force,  and  physical  vitality,  and  missionary 
funds,  in  keeping  up  insignificant  attempts  to 
plant  denominationalism,  when  on  the  spot 
there  are  those  who,  b}-  pre-occupation  and  by 
ability  to  meet  all  demands,  are  entitled  to  con¬ 
sideration,  and  should  not  be  interfered  with. 
I  speak  now,  of  course,  of  our  smaller  com¬ 
munities,  many  of  which  have  not  a  self  sus¬ 
taining  Church,  because  of  the  unnatural  and 
harmful  division  of  Christian  labor,  and  of  com¬ 
munities  where  evangelical  truth  is  preached. 
Where  Romanism,  with  her  numberless  abomi¬ 
nations  and  other  errors,  which  unmake  the 
Gospel  by  impious  additions  or  subtractions, 
are  found,  however  strongly  intrenched  or 
vehement  in  protesting  against  interference, 
they  offer  no  reason  for  the  evangelical  Church¬ 
es  to  stay  out.  On  the  contrary,  their  presence 
is  the  weightiest  of  reasons  for  them  to  come 
in. 

After  the  foregoing  was  written,  and  not 
knowing  of  a  similar  treatment  of  the  subject, 
I  discovered  that  Dr.  Olin,  in  one  of  his  master¬ 
ly  discussions  of  the  missionary  question,  had 
taken  this  identical  ground.  I  give  a  brief 


Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions.  21 

extract:  “When  a  village  or  neighborhood 
is  already  pre-occnpied  by  active,  spiritual 
denominations,  and  the  people  are  well  sup¬ 
plied  with  the  means  of  grace,  it  is  plainly  a 
waste  of  means  to  attempt  ...  to  raise  a  new 
congregation  for  the  gratification  of  half  a 
dozen  families  who  may  prefer  our  creed  or 
polity.  Whatever  else  may  be  said  in  favor 
of  such  an  aggressive  movement,  it  is  no  proper 
missionary  work ;  and  resources  obtained  for 
the  evangelization  of  the  heathen,  or  to  help 
the  destitute,  cannot,  without  a  manifest  per¬ 
version,  be  expended  on  such  enterprises.  Our 
cause  is  essentially  weakened  by  the  multipli¬ 
cation  of  such  dependent  Churches.” 

In  extending  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord,  some 
of  the  Churches  must  necessarily  lead  others. 
They  are  called  to  do  more  than  others,  and, 
if  faithful,  will  do  more,  because  they  are  com¬ 
petent  to  do  more.  Larger  capabilities  com¬ 
pel  them  to  assume  foremost  positions.  All 
related  to  the  work  of  “  holding  forth  the  word 
of  life,”  until  its  benign  influence  shall  reach 
every  human  being,  there  is,  nevertheless, 
difference  in  the  power  resident  in  them,  and 
available  for  making  “  the  faith  once  delivered 
to  the  saints”  the  universal  faith. 

Nor  is  the  precedence  of  some  cause  for 


22  Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions. 

envious  discontent  among  the  others.  “There 
are  diversities  of  gifts,  hut  the  same  spirit ; 
.  .  .  differences  of  administrations,  but- the 
same  Lord  ;  .  .  .  diversities  of  operations,  but 
it  is  the  same  God  which  worketh  in  all.” 
The  servant  who  improved  his  two  talents 
obtained  equal  honor  with  him  who  had  five. 

Obligation  will  never  be  met,  unless  there 
is  some  distinct  idea  of  it.  Where  many 
agents  are  employed  for  an  object,  each  should 
understand  his  part — know  how  far  his  re¬ 
sponsibility  goes.  Otherwise  there  will  be  in¬ 
efficiency,  delay,  perhaps  failure.  The  Churches 
being  Christ’s  agents  for  the  dissemination  of 
his  Gospel,  each  has  its  part  to  do,  and  so  a 
definite  responsibility.  They  owe  it  to  them¬ 
selves  and  to  each  other,  as  well  as  to  the 
Lord,  to  measure  as  nearly  as  possible  their  re¬ 
sponsibility,  to  comprehend  what  is  expected 
of  them  in  furtherance  of  the  object  to  which 
they  are  committed. 

ISTor  is  this  so  difficult  as  may  be  imagined. 
If  an  exact  estimate  cannot  be  rendered,  there 
may  be  an  approximation  inviting  and  impel¬ 
ling  to  the  largest  faithfulness  and  efficiency. 
Each  one  of  our  Christian  denominations,  it 
seems  to  me,  may  so  clearly  understand  the 
part  it  ought  to  take  in  bringing  about  the 


Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions.  23 

world’s  evangelization  at  the  earliest  possible 
day,  as  to  merit  continually  the  Lord’s  com¬ 
mendation,  ‘‘Well  done,  good  and  faithful 
servant.”  And  the  principle  set  forth  in  the 
parable  of  the  talents  is  the  one  to  which  they 
must  appeal  and  submit,  in  concluding  where 
and  to  what  duty  calls  them.  If  their  work  is 
the  same  in  kind,  it  is  not  the  same  in  amount. 
Not  equally  endowed,  they  are  not  equal  in 
responsibility.  Five  talents,  two  talents,  one 
talent,  to  each  according  to  its  ability.  So  re¬ 
sponsibility  is  fixed.  The  smallest  as  well  as 
the  greatest,  the  youngest  as  well  as  the  oldest, 
of  our  Christian  bodies  has  its  position  estab¬ 
lished  by  this  rule.  Ability  ascertains  re¬ 
sponsibility. 

The  manifest  and  humiliating  disproportion 
between  what  the  Churches  are  doing,  and 
what  they  might  do  in  giving  the  Gospel  to 
the  world,  is  the  natural  result  of  their  failure 
to  appreciate  what  they  might  do  and  ought 
to  do.  Dr.  Angus,  discussing  before  the  Evan¬ 
gelical  Alliance  the  duty  of  Churches  to  Mis¬ 
sions,  declares,  “With  50,000  missionaries  at 
work  for  ten  years,  and  with  £15,000,000  a 
year  for  ten  years  to  support  them,  it  is  de¬ 
monstrable  that  the  Gospel  might  be  preached, 
and  preached  repeatedly,  to  every  man,  woman, 


24  Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions. 

and  child  on  earth.  It  seems  a  great  company, 
50,000  preachers ;  and  yet  the  number  is  not 
one  per  cent,  of  the  members  of  Evangelical 
Churches  in  Christendom.  There  are  three  or 
four  denominations  in  America,  any  one  oi 
which  could  supply  all  the  preachers  we  need. 
.  .  .  It  seems  a  great  sum,  £15,000,000  sterling 
in  ten  years;  yet  it  is  less  than  £3  a  year,  $15, 
from  each  member  of  Evangelical  Churches  in 
Europe  and  America.  It  would  not  be  difficult 
to  name  ten  thousand  professing  Christians 
who  could  give  it  all.” 

There  is  really  no  exaggeration  in  this  state¬ 
ment.  The  fact  it  demonstrates  is,  that  our 
Churches  come  far  short  in  estimating  the 
greatness  of  their  opportunity,  and  so  the 
greatness  of  their  responsibility.  Fully  able 
to  go  up  and  possess  the  land,  they  seem  either 
to  distrust  their  ability,  or  to  discover  no 
urgency  in  the  opportunity.  The  magnificent 
privilege  of  telling  every  living  man  of  the 
great  salvation  is  treated  as  if  no  wrong  was 
done  to  multitudes,  and  no  serious  loss  in¬ 
curred  by  them,  if  they  never  heard  of  salva¬ 
tion.  The  Churches  all  share  in  the  sin  of 
omission  by  which  the  Gospel  is  withheld  from 
the  perishing  millions  of  earth.  There  is  not 
one  of  our  religious  denominations  that  is  doing 


Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions.  25 

its  whole  duty  in  carrying  out  the  great  com¬ 
mission.  Resources  are  untouched,  almost 
unconceived,  whose  utilization  would  insure 
the  constant  enlargement  of  Zion  by  seizure 
of  the  enemy’s  ground.  The  selfishness  and 
slothfulness  and  cowardice  of  the  wicked  serv¬ 
ant,  who  hid  his  Lord’s  talent  in  the  earth, 
have  illustration  still  among  those  in  whose 
hands  the  Redeemer  has  placed  his  cause,  and 
upon  whose  faithfulness  he  depends  for  its 
triumph. 

With  men  combining  and  working  together, 
as  well  as  standing  and  working  alone,  self- 
knowledge  is  an  immutable  condition  of  large 
development  and  achievement.  Unacquainted 
with  their  resources,  the  Churches  will  always 
fall  behind  duty  in  what  they  undertake  and 
accomplish  for  the  world.  The  law  of  responsi¬ 
bility  requires  them  to  be  doing  up  to  the 
limit  of  ability,  and  what  that  limit  is  they  are 
bound  to  find  out.  Our  General  Conferences, 
and  Synods,  and  Assemblies,  and  Conventions 
have  no  more  important  business  than  the  ad¬ 
justment  of  the  relations  of  the  Churches  to 
universal  evangelization  The  key-note  of  pos¬ 
sible  achievement,  and  of  purpose  to  make  real 
the  possible,  should  be  struck  in  these  higher 
Christian  councils.  Taking  the  time  to  ex- 


26  Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions. 


amine  thoroughly,  to  discuss  exhaustively — 
taking  it,  if  need  be,  from  the  windy  and  wea¬ 
risome  speech-making  that  wastes  so  many 
hours,  if  not  days,  of  their  sessions — they 
should  send  out  to  their  constituency  appeals 
and  submit  to  them  methods  which  will  be 
inclusive  of  all  they  may  do  for  Christ  and  the 
race.  Prayerfully,  patiently,  earnestly  study¬ 
ing  the  situation,  as  it  embraces  the  wants  of 
mankind  and  the  resources,  material  and  spirit¬ 
ual,  at  command  for  meeting  them,  they  should 
let  the  Churches  know  the  power  they  repre¬ 
sent,  and  the  corresponding  obligation  which 
is  upon  them.  They  should  do  more  than 
timidly  suggest.  It  is  their  province  positive¬ 
ly,  solemnly,  authoritatively  to  assert  duty, 
and  summon  to  its  fulfillment. 

Let  them. exhibit  courage  and  faith  in  pro¬ 
jecting  enterprises,  both  at  home  and  abroad, 
somewhat  commensurate  with  the  ability  of 
the  Churches  ;  let  them  speak  out  clearly  and 
strongly,  bringing  home  to  every  pastor,  and 
congregation,  and  individual  member,  the 
great  commission  as  binding  still  ;  let  them 
assume  in  the  name  of  Christ  and  the  Churches 
their  full  share  of  responsibility  in  carrying  it 
out,  and  estimate  and  indicate  what  they  ac¬ 
cept  as  their  share ;  let  them  provide  for  organ- 


Appeal  in  Beiiale  of  Missions.  27 

ization  in  every  department  that  will  look 
directly  to  the  employment  of  all  available 
forces  in  furnishing  the  destitute  with  the 
bread  of  life.  Then,  with  the  Churches  all  in 
line,  and  all  advancing  for  the  speedy  demo¬ 
lition  of  the  kingdom  of  darkness,  we  may  sing 
with  newly-inspired  hope  and  assurance, 

“Jesus  shall  reign  where’er  the  sun 

Does  his  successive  journeys  run.” 

And  yet  we  cannot  too  often  remind  ourselves 
that  no  merely  human  abilities  are  sufficient 
for  the  ends  we  seek.  Numbers,  wealth,  in¬ 
telligence,  social  influence,  are  not  to  be  left 
out  of  our  reckoning  of  resources.  But  the 
reckoning  is  sadly  incomplete  and  unpromis¬ 
ing  which  stops  with  them.  Possibly  there  is 
danger,  even  in  our  Christian  enterprises,  of 
being  infected  with  the  materialistic  philos¬ 
ophy  of  the  age  which  professes  not  to  need 
“such  an  hypothesis  as  God;”  danger  of  measur¬ 
ing  both  our  ability  and  success  by  principles 
which,  if  they  do  not  exclude  the  divine,  exalt 
the  human  into  an  importance  which  dishonors 
the  divine.  The  Master’s  declaration,  “With¬ 
out  me  ye  can  do  nothing,”  should  be  ever  be¬ 
fore  us.  “  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway ;”  this  is 
the  primary  and  perpetual  ground  of  hope  and 


28  Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions. 

confidence.  Our  resources  that  are  only  visible 
and  tangible,  vast  and  varied  though  they  be, 
fall  infinitely  below  the  demands  of  the  work 
to  be  done.  No  computation  of  them,  or  of 
connected  duty  and  responsibility,  is  of  account 
that  does  not  profoundly  regard  the  presence 
of  the  enlightening  and  sanctifying  Spirit  with 
God’s  people,  a  divine  equipment  for  the  mis¬ 
sion  assigned  them. 

Said  a  wealthy  English  merchant  to  one  of 
the  early  missionaries  in  India,  “You  will  never 
convert  the  heathen  ;  they  are  besotted  in  their 
prejudices,  sunk  in  ignorance ;  errors  have  taken 
deep  root  in  their  character,  and  their  grasp 
on  them  is  like  the  grasp  of  a  boa-constrictor.” 
“Well,”  said  the  missionary,  “with  the  help 
of  God  Almighty,  we  mean  to  try.”  “Ah,” 
said  the  merchant,  “  if  you  bring  God  Al¬ 
mighty  into  the  question,  we  have  nothing  to 
say.” 

And  that  is  just  what  we  do,  we  bring  God 
Almighty  into  the  question.  He  has  made  it 
his  question,  and  will  not  be  kept  out  of  it.  Be¬ 
cause  we  can  bring  him  into  it,  it  cannot  be 
catalogued  with  problematical  questions.  In¬ 
fidelity  is  right  in  affirming  the  inadequacy  of 
natural  and  visible  appliances  for  the  work 
Christianity  proposes.  The  disparity  can 


Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions.  29 

hardly  be  exaggerated.  But  infidelity  has  only 
a  half  view.  The  natural  is  reinforced  by  the 
supernatural;  the  visible  is  allied  to  the  in¬ 
visible.  In  this  world-saving  business  Al- 
mightiness  is  a  chief  factor.  Our  Churches 
are  depositories  of  spiritual  power,  which  sup¬ 
plements  and  countervails  human  weakness. 
They  are  guided  and  inspired  by  Him  to  whom 
all  power  is  given  in  heaven  and  on  earth.  Not 
because  they  have  numbers  or  learning  or 
wealth,  but  because  they  are  baptized  with  the 
Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire,  the  gates  of  hell 
shall  not  prevail  against  them.  Remember- 
ing  that  without  Christ  they  can  do  nothing, 
that  with  him  they  can  do  all  things,  that  faith 
and  prayer  verify  all  his  promises  of  gracious 
help,  they  will  be  kept  from  undue  self-depend¬ 
ence.  Remembering  that  they  “  are  laborers 
together  with  God,”  difficulties  against  which 
it  would  be  madness  to  strive  if  they  labored 
alone,  cease  to  be  formidable.  However  thick¬ 
ly  their  foes  gather,  threatening  to  overwhelm 
their  feebler  line,  they  may  advance  to  battle, 
shouting,  “For  though  we  walk  in  the  flesh, 
we  do  not  war  after  the  flesh ;  (for  the  weapons 
of  our  warfare  are  not  carnal,  but  mighty 
through  God  to  the  pulling  down  of  strong¬ 
holds,)  casting  down  imaginations,  and  every 


30  Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions. 

high  thing  that  exalteth  itself  against  the 
knowledge  of  God.”  And  to  all  the  jeers  of 
an  unbelieving  and  deluded  world  their  quick 
and  confounding  response  may  be,  “  If  God  be 
for  us,  who  can  be  against  us  ?  ” 

What  place  ought  Methodism,  our  Method¬ 
ism,  to  claim  as  an  accredited  and  indispens¬ 
able  evangelizing  agency?  What  is  her  re¬ 
lation  to  Gospel  diffusion  ?  If  ability  regulates 
responsibility,  what  is  hers  in  seeing  that  the 
truth  be  preached  to  every  creature  ?  I  answer, 
The  position  which  is  forced  upon  her  is  a  lead¬ 
ing  one.  The  part  she  is  asked  and  obliged 
to  take  is  a  chief  part.  She  would  be  untrue 
to  herself  and  the  common  cause  if  she  did 
less  than  her  sister  Churches.  I  am  persuaded 
they  expect  her  to  do  more. 

The  whole  history  of  Methodism,  which  is 
only  a  continuous  history  of  missionary  act¬ 
ivity  and  growth,  points  to  her  duty  and  re¬ 
sponsibility.  Her  theology,  consistently  and 
persistently  making  free  grace  and  free-will 
the  starting-point  of  all  doctrinal  exposition  ; 
her  system  of  government,  free  from  hierarch¬ 
ical  pretension  or  tendencies,  framed,  and  as 
occasion  requires  modified,  not  for  show  but 
for  effectiveness ;  the  variety  and  flexibility  of 
her  instrumentalities;  her  itinerant  ministry, 


Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions.  31 

ceaselessly  moving  and  proclaiming  as  it  goes, 
“  Christ  for  all  the  world  and  all  the  world  for 
Christ;”  the  experimental  character  of  her 
teaching,  emphasizing  the  privilege  of  know¬ 
ing  the  pardon  of  sin  and  adoption  into  the 
family  of  God;  the  fervor  by  which  her  chil¬ 
dren  are  every- where  distinguished;  her  num¬ 
bers,  her  wealth,  fit  her  to  be  an  example  to 
the  Churches  in  devotion  to  the  salvation  of 
men.  As  evangelistic  energy  has  been  her 
glory  in  the  past,  any  relaxation  now  would  be 
a  shame  and  a  crime,  an  evidence  of  apostasy 
hardly  less  in  its  criminality  than  that  which 
Romanism  illustrates.  The  Divine  approval 
with  which  she  has  been  so  remarkably  favored 
as  a  missionary  Church,  gathering  her  material 
raw  and  working  it  into  beauty  and  utility, 
rather  than  taking  material  second-hand  and 
so  badly  worked  as  to  be  incapable  of  much 
improvement,  going  every-where  after  “the 
multitudes,  scattered  abroad  as  sheep  having 
no  shepherd,”  attests  her  election  to  be  al¬ 
ways  a  missionary  Church.  Ceasing  to  be 
that,  her  glory  will  leave  her  and  be  given 
to  another. 

The  greatest  peril  of  Methodism  is  her  pros¬ 
perity.  Numbers,  wealth,  popularity,  have  too 
often  in  the  progress  of  Christianity  marked  de- 


32  Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions. 


dine  in  spirituality,  departure  from  the  simple 
truth  of  Christ,  and  prevalent  and  paralyzing 
worldliness.  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that 
Methodism  can  only  escape  the  peril  of  sink¬ 
ing  into  a  dead  formalism  as  she  devotes  her¬ 
self  with  untiring  earnestness  to  the  spread  of 
scriptural  holiness  over  all  lands.  In  keep¬ 
ing  alive  the  missionary  fire,  she  will  not  only 
save  others,  she  will  save  herself.  When  her 
aggressiveness  is  suspended,  her  paralysis 
begins. 

Much  as  Methodism  has  done  and  is  doing, 
she  is  capable  of  doing  more.  With  all  the 
activity  she  displays,  her  resources  are  far  from 
being  developed  and  used.  Especially  is  this 
true  of  financial  ability.  Almost  without  feel¬ 
ing  the  strain,  she  might  treble  her  contri¬ 
butions,  and  be  constantly  increasing  them, for 
the  propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  every  land. 
Doing  only  what  is  possible,  without  weaken¬ 
ing  a  single  point  where  she  is  established,  her 
foreign  missionary  forces  might  be  quadrupled 
in  twelve  months.  It  cannot  but  be  a  reproach 
that  even  in  these  hard  times  her  mission- 
ary  treasury  should  be  embarrassed  by  debt. 
Methodism,  leading  the  Churches  in  numerical 
strength  and  the  general  diffusion  of  wealth 
in  her  membership,  should  lead  them  in  her 


Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions.  38 

contributions  for  the  world’s  evangelization. 
She  should  not  think  of  a  less  sum  than  a  mill¬ 
ion  of  dollars  annually  for  this  cause. 

The  missionary  spirit  of  the  Churches,  breth¬ 
ren,  will  not  go  beyond  the  missionary  spirit 
of  their  pastors.  Our  faith  and  zeal  must 
animate  theirs.  In  sympathy  with  Christ  and 
his  purposes  of  saving  mercy,  we  must  be  en- 
samples  to  all  believers.  We  are  educators  of 
our  people  on  this  great  question  of  converting 
the  world.  If  our  hearts  are  cold,  theirs  will 
be  not  less  frigid.  If  our  views  are  small,  they 
will  share  them.  If  we  tamely  speak,  they  will 
tamely  act.  If  our  treatment  of  the  subject 
is  only  perfunctory,  they  will  not  see  its  magni¬ 
tude  or  believe  in  its  importance.  If  we  hint 
excuses  for  small  collections  on  the  ground  of 
heavy  current  expenses  or  hard  times,  they 
will  make  the  collections  small  enough.  O, 
let  us  be  awake,  and  bold,  and  broad,  and 
earnest  before  the  Churches  on  this  vital  ques¬ 
tion  !  God  send  upon  us,  as  pastors  of  the  flock 
of  Christ,  a  baptism  that  will  lead  us  to  say 
with  Paul,  that  grandest  of  New  Testament 
missionaries,  “For  the  love  of  Christ  con- 
straineth  us,  because  we  thus  judge,  that  if  one 
died  for  all,  therefore  all  died:  and  that  he 

died  for  all,  that  they  which  live  should  not 
3 


34  Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions. 

henceforth  live  unto  themselves,  but  unto  him 
which  died  for  them,  and  rose  again.” 

It  is  given  to  faith  to  anticipate  the  com¬ 
pleted  work  of  the  Church.  Calmly  surveying 
the  scene  of  conflict,  it  discerns  the  end,  “  the 
times  of  restitution  of  all  things,”  when  every 
tongue  shall  “  confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord, 
to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father.”  Knowing 
that  its  foundation  is  indestructible,  it  brings 
near  the  distant,  and  rejoices  in  victory  as¬ 
sured,  as  if  it  were  already  accomplished.  How 
enrapturing  its  view,  as,  in  the  light  of  proph¬ 
ecy  and  promise,  it  peers  through  the  ages,  and 
beholds  old  things  passed  away  and  all  things 
become  new  !  How  sublime  the  spectacle  upon 
which  it  is  permitted  to  gaze !  Creation  re¬ 
created  !  The  finished  manifestation  of  re¬ 
demption  in  the  subjugation  of  Satan  and  over¬ 
throw  of  his  rebellious  government!  The 
kingdoms  of  this  world  reclaimed  from  the 
usurper,  and  now  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord 
and  his  Christ !  The  ruptured  relations  of  man 
and  God  restored,  and  indissolubly  cemented, 
bv  the  blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant !  Sus¬ 
picion  and  hatred  and  alienation  transmuted 
into  universal  love  and  peace  and  fellowship ! 
The  multitudes  of  the  continents  and  isles 
gathered  into  ‘  a  glorious  Church,  not  having 


Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions.  35 

spot,  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing.”  Error 
banished  from  the  realm  of  thought,  and  the 
truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  every- where  and  forever 
triumphant !  The  Crucified  crowned  Lord  of 
all !  The  two  worlds  most  deeply  concerned 
in  the  sacrifice  of  Calvary  vying  with  each 
other  in  proclaiming — “Worthy  is  the  Lamb 
that  was  slain  to  receive  power,  and  riches,  and 
wisdom,  and  strength,  and  honor,  and  glory 
and  blessing  !”  The  apocalyptic  writer  pict¬ 
ures  the  scene  which  opens  up  to  faith :  “And 
I,  John,  saw  the  holy  city,  New  Jerusalem, 
coming  down  from  God  out  of  heaven,  pre¬ 
pared  as  a  bride  adorned  for  her  husband. 
And  I  heard  a  great  voice  out  of  heaven,  say¬ 
ing,  Behold,  the  tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men, 
and  he  will  dwell  with  them,  and  thev  shall 
be  his  people,  and  God  himself  shall  be  with 
them,  and  be  their  God.” 

Brothers,  to  this  consummation,  so  delightful 
and  inspiring  to  contemplate,  we  are  related. 
For  this  we  live  and  die,  that  it  may  be  hast¬ 
ened.  Into  the  work  of  preparation  we  enter 
through  the  ministry  we  have  received  of  the 
Lord  Jesus.  In  the  final  blissful  realization 
we  will  share,  if  faithful.  O,  be  it  our  glory, 
lifting  us  above  all  the  enticements  and  en¬ 
tanglements  of  earthly  ambitions,  that  we  are 


36  Appeal  in  Behalf  of  Missions. 

counted  worthy  of  so  honorable,  so  divine,  a 
vocation ! 

“  0  that  each,  in  the  day  of  his  coming,  may  say, — 

I  have  fought  my  way  through ; 

I  have  finished  the  work  thou  did’st  give  me  to  do. 

0  that  each  from  his  Lord  may  receive  the  glad  word, — 
Well  and  faithfully  done! 

Enter  into  my  joy  and  sit  down  on  my  throne.” 


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